"Put up, or Shut up"

I'm not insulting you. That's what I've dubbed the year 2011. My "Put up or Shut up" year. For context, 2010 was "Try one new thing each month" year.

So, this is the year I'm making good on all the dithering.

I finally realized that it would never be a perfect time to write a novel, that I would never polish my writing enough to feel good about blogging, and that I may not be perfect, but it's perfectly ok to be me.

There's a church I've driven past a million times, and for months I've found excuses not to get my rear in gear on Sunday morning. Snow, too tired, rain, bad hair. And finally, FINALLY  I knew I had to either go, or drop the whole idea.

I'm glad I went.

And so, this is my lesson, if I feel like checking something out, I'm going to do it, or let it go. How much time have I wasted worrying about doing something? Too much. I decided to put myself out there with teaching some classes, which made me sweat because who was I to have such grand ideas? Well, why not me? And I had little cards printed up, with such a pretty design. And when I handed one out, I realized I forgot to put a phone number on them.

A year ago this would have absolutely made me believe I was not meant to do this. Now, I just laughed and wrote my number on the card. It's not the end of the world.

I don't have to be perfect, and neither do you. We're all wonderful Works in Progress, and unless we get over ourselves, we're never going to know how Wonderful we all can be.

Summer, finally

I see I've been lax again on posting.

Spring lasted 32 minutes and we swung into summer in late May. Like everyone else, I was catching up on yard work (machete and boots) and housework (windows!). Well, that has meditative qualities too. My mom was a world-class Spring Cleaner. She'd strip beds, wash walls, pull out the pots and pans and scrub it all. The house smelled fantastic afterward. It was a rite of spring.

Me, not so much.
But I do focus my intention when I'm cleaning - not just removing dust and dirt, but on lifting the energy in the space. Just like your rooms can smell stale, the energy can get stale too. An open window with and a stiff breeze can start the process, and if you can smudge with sage, even better. (Note: walking through your house with a lit cigarette is NOT smudging. Just saying.)

So, now that the plants are planted, windows are washed and grass is at a manageable height, I have no excuses about missing a post.